US to boost nuclear fuel, reactor development with uranium allocation

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has taken a major step to advance nuclear energy by conditionally allocating high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) to three domestic companies—Antares Nuclear, Standard Nuclear, and Abilene Christian University/Natura Resources LLC—to support near-term fuel needs for advanced reactor development. HALEU, enriched between 5% and less than 20% uranium-235, is crucial for enabling smaller, more efficient reactor designs with longer operating cycles, which current reactors running on up to 5% enriched uranium cannot achieve. This allocation follows an earlier distribution of HALEU to five companies and aims to jumpstart a new domestic advanced fuel supply chain, reducing reliance on foreign sources and fostering a U.S. nuclear energy renaissance. The DOE emphasizes the urgent need for HALEU, as its absence could jeopardize the development, demonstration, and deployment of many advanced nuclear technologies. Currently, HALEU is not available from domestic suppliers,